Jemima Montag

Biography:

She may only be 26 years of age, but that does nothing to dilute the legitimacy of Jemima Montag’s Maccabi Hall of Fame status.

Born into a proud Maccabi family, Jemima was touted for greatness as she dominated her way through the under-age racewalking competitions in Australia and Oceania. She then burst onto the national scene with a gold medal in the 20km walk at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

That amazing achievement was followed by a sixth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, only 42 seconds behind the bronze medallist.

In February 2022, Jemima broke Jane Saville’s 18-year-old 20km Walk Australian record, clocking 1:27.27. At the 2022 World Championships, she placed fourth in a quick time of 1:28.17, a performance that would have won five previous world championships. This was the second-highest time in the event by an Australian woman and the best finish by an Australian, male or female, in two decades. Three weeks later, she defended her Commonwealth Games title in Birmingham, winning the 10,000m walk in 42:34.30.

Entering the 2023 World Championships with an impressive streak of six undefeated races and three consistent 20km walk times, Jemima continued to excel. In Budapest, she secured a silver medal with an Australian record time of 1:27.16. She further improved this record to 1:27.09 in her second race of 2024. In April, at the World Teams Race Walking Championships in Turkey, she and Rhydian Cowley qualified an Australian team for the Paris Olympics in the new Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay event, finishing in a safe sixth place. She will also be competing in her usual 20km Women’s Racewalk.

Jemima has established herself as one of the world’s prominent Jewish athletes, consistently demonstrating a strong commitment to community-focused initiatives, balancing her athletics career with studying medicine at Melbourne University and supporting charities for the underprivileged.